Motivation

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by Danae Matthew, Woman to Woman's Guest Contributor

I can remember when my motivation came to get healthy. I had never considered myself to be an overweight woman. In fact I had managed to hover around the same weight and dress size from high school into my early twenties and for a long time I was content with that. Then there came a moment where I went through a break-up that really rocked me to my core. I cocooned myself and for three months allowed food and television to be my only friends. As you can imagine when I emerged from this ridiculous behavior and shook myself out of it, I realized I had put on what was for my frame a significant amount of weight. What was worse I had never really “worked out” or “ate right” before because it was always easy for me to maintain my weight. The idea of having to manually get fit seemed impossible.

Whatever that initial motivation may be for you, it is one thing to spark it and another to keep it. Every day can be an uphill battle. But there are a couple of things you can do to maintain that zest and excitement for a healthy lifestyle:

Work from the bottom UP

In college I took a circuit training class with the team personal trainer and he said a huge fitness mistake is thinking that because you used to be able to do something that you still can. It may be hard to admit to yourself that you can no longer run a 6 or 7 minute mile, but hey, no one is keeping score at the gym. If you do too much the first week back you will most certainly wear yourself out and either take time off or never come back. Start slow!

Switch it Up

If you are in a financial space to afford going to a gym than spend three days a week attending a class, and the other two working out alone. Group fitness classes are great because they are fun, kick your butt and with other people around you, keep you motivated to keep going! If you run on treadmill five days a week it is really easy to fall into a rut. No gym? Do a fitness DVD (or cable program) three times a week, while walking around the neighborhood the other two days. Switching up your routine will keep it from getting stale and you from losing interest!

Avoid the slingshot

When I was growing up my friend always called the way my parents coddled me and my sister “slingshotting.” It basically refers to holding something back for so long that when it finally goes it is GONE. Think about this when it comes to you and food. Don’t deprive yourself of everything that you love within the first few days or weeks of trying to “get healthy.” You will find yourself at 3 o’clock in the morning on your kitchen floor clutching a pint of Ben & Jerrys in no time! Start incorporating healthy things first, not eliminating things you love. Pretty soon you’ll start loving the healthy things and forget about the not so great ones.

Track your progress

I hate the scale. Mostly because I don’t think that the number on it represents how I really look. If you like this form of tracking, that’s fine and by all means do that. If not go for something more fun and interesting! Get a pair of pants that you consider to fit you the tightest now at your heaviest. Take a picture. Every two weeks take another picture. So on and so forth. When those pants either look not tight OR are falling off of you, you are going to feel so great!

Do not let this consume you

All in all, you losing weight and getting healthy should be a joyous and wonderful experience, not chore. If you ever feel like it is re-evaluate why you started this journey in the first place. Have you maybe already reached your goal? Do you need to tone down the ferocity of your training and dieting? Are you stuck on a fitness routine that you hate? Don’t let yourself become a zombie because of something that is supposed to make you come alive. Your biggest motivation should be the idea of extending and enriching your life!

Danae Matthews is a twenty-something living healthy in San Francisco. She writes for an on-line health resource Women’s Health Base.

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